(CNN) - The Country Music Association Awards' Song of the Year has a simple name – "I Drive Your Truck." But it's the deep emotion, the inconceivable feeling of loss behind the song that helped earn it the honor.

"Thank you so much Jared, for what you did for this country," songwriter Jimmy Yeary said in his CMA acceptance speech.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti was killed in Afghanistan while trying to save a fellow soldier. The song is about the absence of Jared, the deep longing for him felt by his father, Paul.

"Very humble kid, very hard working kid, extremely adventurous kid. There was no hill too high, no tree too tall for Jared," Monti told CNN.
In 2011, Paul Monti told a reporter with Boston Public Radio about his operation Flags for Vets, his mission to place American flags on the graves of service members on Memorial Day.

"Do you still drive Jared's truck?" a Boston radio reporter asked.

"Yes, I do," he said. "I just love driving it because it reminds me of him. Though I don't need the truck to remind me of him, I think about him every hour of every day."

A songwriter from Nashville, Connie Harrington, was on her way home from work the day of the broadcast. She wasn't in the mood for music, which she'd been listening to all day, so she tuned into NPR, and caught Monti's interview.

She "heard the interviewer ask how I keep Jared close, and I said well, ‘I drive his truck.’ It struck her immediately, and she wrote it down on a notepad she had in the car," Monti said.

CNN caught up with him in Brockton, Massachusetts, where he is still living out his son's message of strength and duty, and, yes, still driving Jared's black Dodge Ram pickup. He was pleased to hear about the award.

"It was very uplifting. It was a song that's touched the hearts of Gold Star Families (immediate families of fallen service members) throughout the country, as well as other families that have lost their child. It's fitting that we have something out there that honors them that they can hold on to," said Paul.

Jared Monti was killed during an intense firefight with as many as 50 insurgents on Hill 2610, in a remote area of Afghanistan in 2006. When one of the soldiers was severely wounded and pinned down under a barrage of gunfire, Monti tried to reach him three times.

On his last attempt, he was hit by an RPG. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously.

“Said his patrol leader, ‘It was the bravest thing I had ever seen a soldier do,’" President Barack Obama said during the award ceremony.

Working with two other songwriters, Harrington found inspiration in Paul's words. After Brice recorded it, the song soon hit No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart.

Though Monti had no idea.

Cheryl Lee Patrick, the mother of one of the four soldiers killed that day on Hill 2610, sent the song to him. She, too, drives her late son Patrick Lybert's truck. Neither had any idea that Monti was the song's inspiration.

"It was only after the song reached number one, two years later, really that I contacted with Connie Harrington and the songwriters," said Paul.

"I'm day-to-day ... as are all the Gold Star parents, Gold Star families," said Paul. "It's a pain that never goes away, it's always there. People say time heals all, but in this case it doesn't."

"Losing a parent, that's one thing, that's your past, but losing a child, you've lost your future," said Paul. "You don't have those grandkids to look forward to, and those special days of going to the ballpark together, or going fishing. All of that that you envisioned is gone."

Monti says his hope is that those who enjoy the song learn about Gold Star Families, and what they go through. Listeners have to learn, he says, that freedom isn't free. It's all paid for by the blood of our young men and women.

As an army wife, this hit hard with me. The second time I got to see my husband this year, we got married. The day after we got married we went to a Lee Brice concert, and he performed this song. I can't tell you the emotion that ran through that crowd, or the tears I cried knowing that could have been, or could be, my husband. Not a song I can listen to and hold myself together over. Thank God for all the men and women that serve. Bless the troops, and thank Heaven for this song.

I too drive his truck. My husband was a vietnam vet. He passed away last year from the complications of Agent Orange exposure and I miss him very much. I have kept his truck even though it is a gas hog. I can't part with it as it seems like he is still in it with me.I am so sorry for your loss. They say that time eases the pain but it hasn't yet.

The song hit home because I drive my dad's truck for the same reasons. Thank you Mr. Monti for inspiring this song that has touched so many lives. My sincere condolences this Veteran's Day on your tremendous loss. I believe you have another angel looking out for you from above.

As a member of the gold star family I relate to this song. Everytime I hear tears stream down my face. My brother was killed in Afghanistan on February 8, 2009. My cousin still drives my brothers truck. RIP my hero SSG JASON E. BURKHOLDER.

show some respect. this is one of the men that literally died for mine and YOUR freedom – how would there be any negative comments following this story? it doesnt matter wether you think our troops should be over there or not – they are. and they are making sacrifices for us that me and you are not making. so stop talking about what music they are listening to or if they passed away in vain or not. and thanks to lee brice for putting his heart into this song and giving the family the respect they deserve.

My brother, USMC Sgt. Elisha Parker, was KIA in Iraq on 4 May 2006. My youngest brother Andrew drives his truck. I think it makes the family feel a little closer to Eli :-) The day we have to get rid of it will be sad.

My daughter is in the Army National Guard. Part of her unit is soon being deployed stateside, the other portion to Afghanistan. Not sure where she is going and (as a liberal pacifist) wish to he** none of these wars were started by our "fearless leaders"...can't help but note that their kids never serve!
They all deserve our support and while not a country music fan, I appreciate the acknowledgement of the sacrifices these young people make for their country...even though I DO NOT agree with the reasons they are there.
Dingdong, pull your head out of your derriere; did you learn nothing from Vietnam? The war and the politicians who got us involved are the enemies, our troops are just doing what their job forces them to.

Having read Tapper's book "The Outpost" in which I read the story of hill 2610 (in the book) and having worked in Jalalabad, all Americans can know that something good has come out of the losses I hope the families can keep driving the trucks or vehicles of their loved ones until they arrive at a place and time of peace and reunion with the departed.

When I hear this song I think of my brother who was killed in Vietnam 45 yrs. ago, and yes, I cry everytime.
Nothing replaces the loss. I found it interesting to learn that the inspiration for this song began with Jared Monti's father; since I had previously learned of Jared's sacrifice in the local media. I will now think of Jared and his family, too, when I hear this song.

The first time i heard this song as a Gold Star Mom/Blue Star Mom a flat bed truck had just pulled into my driveway with my sons jeep. I remember someone had sent me a message and told me i needed to listen to it. Once my sons jeep was unloaded and i signed the necessary paperwork from the military releasing it i climbed in the drivers seat grabbed hold of the steering wheel and cried . I drive his jeep now and EVERY TIME I Pull up to my sons grave this song never fails to come on the radio even if i haven't heard it played in days. My son loved playing pranks on me so of course he always seems to turn it up as loud as it will go when it comes on :) Awesome song that so many GS families can relate to.

I love this song. While my son was in Iraq, I drove his truck and cried.
So wonderful that some people get this song. So sad that some try to tell others
what to listen to ~ pathetic. People should stop taking ownership of other people's space.

of making a comment such as that on this page. The song is in memory of all the soldiers who have been lost in the war we've been fighting for the past several years, it not only touches home with those families but to anyone else who has lost a loved one in any other tragic accident. It hits home for me just having friends in the military and knowing what could happen to them. If it wasn't for these military men and women you wouldn't even have the freedom to make such a rude and ignorant comment!!!

Its nice and all, but I actually think it is kind of cheap. A little easy to pander to people's emotions on this subject. Que the obligatory clips of the troops getting off the plane coming home to tearful family members, and there is your music video. You think the troops are listening to this garbage? No. They are listening to Drowning Pool, and ganster rap.

Your an idiot, and must not know many veterans. Sure we listen to what you think we do, but the majority of the soldiers I know listen to country, and prefer country over gangster rap and drowning pool. I'm talking about infantry soldiers too. Sure we listen to Five Finger Death Punch and such, mostly to get pumped up. That doesn't mean we don't listen to country.

Actually, a lot of war deaths are in vain. Except perhaps for World War II, most of the other deaths and injuries in all of the other subsequent "wars" were just not necessary – except to make money for the "industrial/ary" complex. Great.

Unfortunately, invading a country, with boots on the ground, will cause more long term conflict and bloodshed. Al Qaeda gets stronger every day, and innocents are seeing their lives torn apart. I feel bad for everyone who died for... essentially nothing. It's not their fault.

It's a story about a song memorializing a brave soldier who died fighting for things he felt important enough to put his life on the line for and you're going to complain about a blurry picture taken it what appears to Afghanistan. Wow. You obviously missed the point.

The blurry photo was taken just a few weeks before Jared died by another soldier. In my humble opinion, it's an awesome photo. It is cherished by those who know and love him. The scarf he wears around his neck was a gift from an Afghanistan citizen. It was given to him as a sign of respect. Respect is an attribute that I and many others value.

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